Kirjahaku

In 1965 Bird, christened Avocet, aged six, is living with her family in a Florida citrus grove. Bird, against Mama's wishes, makes friends with Miss Zora, a black woman in a neighbouring trailer. Mama finally agrees to get help for her alcoholism, and Miss Zora takes Bird and Phoebe to live with her at her home in South Florida.

Two families in the sugarcane fields of Florida--the Looneys and the Jewels--struggle to step beyond the traditions and customs of the past and into the changing world of a new South

When the great-great granddaughter of a wealthy industrialist drowns, the woman's best friend returns to their island home to search for the truth, while a transsexual ex-marine strives to defend the late woman's reputation against local rumors, and an egotistical man finds himself unable to forget his lost love. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.